FRANKFURT, March 13 (Reuters) - German fashion house Hugo
Boss predicted a pick up in sales and earnings growth
this year, driven by store openings, its new womenswear
designer's first collection and a brighter outlook for Europe's
economy.

"I am confident that we will accelerate our rate of growth
compared to the prior year," Chief Executive Claus-Dietrich
Lahrs said on Thursday, as the group forecast a high
single-digit percentage rise in currency-adjusted sales and
earnings.

Hugo Boss, best known for its men's suits, has been moving
away from selling through partners to running its own stores,
where it has more control over how goods are displayed and at
what price they are sold, which is helping to improve margins.

The investment in its own stores, with a further 50 planned
this year, marketing around its new womenswear designer Jason Wu
- a favoured designer of U.S. First Lady Michelle Obama - plus
slower luxury spending in China, prompted Hugo Boss to postpone
last year its 2015 target to reach a 25 percent adjusted EBITDA
margin - core profit as a percentage of sales.

The group said on Thursday it now aimed to reach that margin
in the medium term after posting a 2013 figure of just over 23
percent, but confirmed its sales goal of 3 billion euros ($4.2
billion) for 2015.

Analysts polled by Reuters on average saw 2014 sales up 9.2
percent at 2.65 billion euros and adjusted earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 625
million euros, up by 10.6 percent.

Hugo Boss proposed raising its dividend payment to
shareholders to 3.34 per share from 3.12 euros for 2012, lagging
analysts' average forecast of 3.50 euros. The firm traditionally
pays out around 60-80 percent of its net earnings as dividends.